Thursday, 14 June 2012

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

When Henry meets Clare, he is twenty-eight and she is twenty. He is a hip librarian; she is a beautiful art student. Henry has never met Clare before; Clare has known Henry since she was six...

Following the format of Brodi's last review of Wither, I'll split this review into four parts.

The Cover:The cover becomes almost self explanatory as you read the book, and I love it because it captures the essence of the story - the main reason I love the story. A girl is waitng for a time travelling man, waiting with the facilities to help him. It really does show the depth and simplicity of their love in the midst of all the confusing timelines and complexities of Henry.

The Characters: Most of the characters are paired off, which I think is pretty genius, mostly because it's easier to track them...timelines confuse me and having two people effectively as a unit, makes it easier to keep a handle on them. The main characters are, obviously, Clare Abshire, who is understanding and creative and most importantly: patient. Which leads us to Henry DeTamble, he's a librarian (already high in my estimation) and his sense of humour is really what made him likeable to me in the first section of the novel. What's extraordinary about these characters is that they know how they're going to end up (mostly), so there's none of the 'willl they wont they' fuss which, I have to admit, I'm starting to dislike. Next, there's Gomez and Charisse - who are friends of Clare. I am not a fan of Gomez at all. I just really dislike the character, which adds to the realism of the book, if anything. You're not supposed to like everyone you meet, are you? That's my rationale, anyway. There's also Alba, but in the interest of keeping this review spoiler free, I'll leave that one well alone.

The Setting:The main settings are Chicago, which I dont really know anything about, so I'll just assume that it's accurate. The second main setting is the Meadow, which I love, both because I like meadows and it's really symbolic.

The Overall Story:I love the overall story. I became so attached to the characters that when I reached the last page, I jumped back a few chapters because I didnt want it to end. It's beautiful, it really is. The relationship between Henry and Clare is a joy to read, there isn't glorious harmony throughout their relationship as you might expect, but that's what makes it better because you really feel like you've been invited into the bubble of their world.